Tree expert appeals to Sha Tin residents to save Chinese banyan badly battered by Typhoon Mangkhut
Hong Kong professor asks for the people of Sha Tin to come together to save the 18 metre-tall tree, after the Jockey Club said it would dispose of the damaged tree and plant a new one
A veteran tree expert appealed to Sha Tin residents on Thursday to help save an umbrella-shaped Chinese banyan tree in Penfold Park that was badly battered by Typhoon Mangkhut, despite the Jockey Club saying it would remove what was now a massive tangle of branches and leaves.
Fondly remembered by many who have visited the park next to the Sha Tin Racecourse, the tree was left severely damaged on Sunday after the severe storm swept through the city.
The Jockey Club, which manages the park, had told media earlier that landscape architects had inspected the tree and found it could not be saved. The club said it would replace it with another banyan tree.
“The tree has sufficient remaining roots”, Professor Jim Chi-yung, from the Education University of Hong Kong, said. “It can be saved by spraying the exposed roots, soil and leaves with water.” He stressed that there needed to be urgent restoration work by keeping the tree’s roots moist all the time.
“Time and tide wait for no man,” he said, quoting English poet Chaucer.
The 30-year-old, 18 metre-high banyan, which stood at the centre of the park, looked much like a centuries-old tree. It was a frequent shaded rest stop for people walking dogs and a popular spot for wedding photos.